AP article linked below:
"Elon Musk tells Republican lawmakers he’s not to blame for federal firings"
Summary:
Elon Musk claims he’s just the “waste detective,” not the executioner, when it comes to mass federal firings — but that doesn’t hold up. Trump gave Musk power to drive cost-cutting across agencies, Musk’s team accessed sensitive personnel data directly, and agencies carried out mass firings under intense DOGE pressure. Now that backlash is mounting, Musk blames agency incompetence, agencies blame Musk’s meddling, and Trump says Musk will “do the cutting” if agencies don’t.
Bottom line:
This is a classic
plausible deniability playbook: Musk, Trump, and agencies are all pointing fingers at each other — which makes it nearly impossible to hold anyone fully accountable. The contradictions are
the point — spreading blame across so many actors that no single entity stands responsible.
Elon Musk is telling Republican lawmakers that he's not to blame for the firings of thousands of federal workers as he pushes to downsize the government.
apnews.com